Spectra: A cautionary tale

[Sawbonz]

We had an issue with low voltage shut offs on our water maker and contacted the authorized person in St Martin. He diagnosed the main board and gave us two options per Spectra, either return the board to them for testing and wait three weeks or buy a new board up front. Not being cactus we chose the latter. The new board fixed the problem while introducing another where the temperature constantly reads 32F and once told me it was done making water because it was pumping out 13782.4 gallons per hour. Apparently, both of these are known issues and will be fixed in a future software release "next year". It's July. Anyway, they tested our old board and "found it good" so they reimbursed us for.... Nothing. Not one freaking cent of the $1300+ for the board, labor, or shipping. There's a line in their warranty that I know that we never received that says "…Once we have received Your returned product, we will determine, in our sole and absolute discretion, whether Your claim is covered by, or excluded from, this limited warranty…", i.e. you really have no warranty unless we grace you. Had I seen that the calculus in purchasing a unit would have been dramatically different and knowing now how sketchy this was I would not choose them. Food for thought.

[a64pilot]

I believe that is pretty much standard warranty, you send whatever it is back, they test it, and if it’s no fault found they send it back.

However if I had a Spectra I’d have Tellies number in my phone book, he may have been able to help trouble shoot.
He is I believe the Spectra dealer in Ft Lauderdale and posts here often.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

... However if I had a Spectra I’d have Tellies number in my phone book, he may have been able to help trouble shoot.
He is I believe the Spectra dealer in Ft Lauderdale and posts here often.

Tellie = J.T. HALDEN (Owner / Tech Support, Halden Marine Services)
Tel: +1 (954) 515-7077
293 SW 33 St. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33315, USA
Phone: +1 (954) 515-7077
Email: info@haldenmarineservice.com
Web ➥ https://haldenmarineservice.com/
CF Profile ➥ Cruisers & Sailing Forums - View Profile: Tellie

[Sawbonz]

Thanks guys, Tellie installed my unit and wasn’t available at that time. I spoke with him later and he agreed with the other tech.

a64pilot, I understand your point, but mine was that their warranty is DISCRETIONARY. This means that whether or not they find a fault they don’t have to warranty the item. In my case they found no fault with the board, yet replacing it fixed the issue I was having. At the same time the new board that presumably was tested good shipped to me with at least two faults that they admit are known issues. That is where their discretion bit me in the butt.

[a64pilot]

I understand what your saying, but every warranty I know of requires you to either send the item back to them or to a dealer, and they determine if it’s bad or not, and if they say it’s not bad, you have no option, not really.

This is pretty much for everything from the boat itself to the pieces parts in it.

That is one reason why if possible I buy whatever gadget there is from someone that if I have a problem, I get to talk to the owner / manufacturer.
That’s not always possible of course, try that with a TV or plotter for example, but sometimes you can.

However I have learned to try calling product support before you buy with questions, if you get to talk to a knowledgeable tech that knows their stuff, and not a call center where they assign a ticket number and you hope someone gets back to you, then I’m more likely to buy.

Just got off the phone with Outback, looking to buy a gadget for my Outback 80 and had questions, well the sales guy wasn’t sure so he connected me with an Engineer who knew his stuff and answers my questions and of course brought up things I hadn’t thought of, even astonishingly recommend another manufacturers product and asked if I was good with an Ardunio or Rasberry Pi. He was going to tell me how to program one of those to work, but alas I’d be a pig looking at a wrist watch, but I appreciated him asking.

[Sawbonz]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I understand what your saying, but every warranty I know of requires you to either send the item back to them or to a dealer, and they determine if it’s bad or not, and if they say it’s not bad, you have no option, not really.

This is pretty much for everything from the boat itself to the pieces parts in it.

Hmmm, interesting. I personally have never before seen the word “discretion” in a warranty. My fault is that I didn’t read the warranty before-hand. I’m presuming that the reason I didn’t get one with the unit and can’t find it on their web site or through a Google search is because that terminology is so bad for the consumer is that they attempt to hide it. I’d be interested in any other warranties that you can provide use the word “discretion”.

[Dulcesuenos]

Spectra cannot just hand out loaner parts every time someone thinks they know what their issue is. In fact not sure I am aware of any company that does that. Now if a hard part is defective that is another thing but with electrical It can be easy to mis diagnose something by going off of what others tell you. It can also happen due to several other factors, electrical issues, bad connections or grounds etc.

[Sawbonz]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Spectra cannot just hand out loaner parts every time someone thinks they know what their issue is. In fact not sure I am aware of any company that does that. Now if a hard part is defective that is another thing but with electrical It can be easy to mis diagnose something by going off of what others tell you. It can also happen due to several other factors, electrical issues, bad connections or grounds etc.

Thank you, but to be clear, this wasn’t just someone, it was their authorized service center.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Sawbonz

Thank you, but to be clear, this wasn’t just someone, it was their authorized service center.

Not all authorized service centers are created equal. Tellie (Halden Marine) is awesome, but I was flat out ripped off by a Spectra distributor many years ago. They charged me for work, filled a warranty service claim with Spectra and kept the compensation. What scum bags.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Just got off the phone with Outback, looking to buy a gadget for my Outback 80 and had questions, well the sales guy wasn’t sure so he connected me with an Engineer who knew his stuff and answers my questions and of course brought up things I hadn’t thought of, even astonishingly recommend another manufacturers product and asked if I was good with an Ardunio or Rasberry Pi. He was going to tell me how to program one of those to work, but alas I’d be a pig looking at a wrist watch, but I appreciated him asking.

That's great service